The industry is looking forward to a sobering year with a drop in sales figures of almost 15 percent. For the first time since 2006, fewer than 250 million units will be delivered in one year.
Market researchers at Gartner determined 63.3 million PCs were sold worldwide in the fourth quarter. This is the first time in eight consecutive quarters that sales figures have not declined. The bottom line is that, according to preliminary figures, there is even a slight increase of 0.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Overall, however, the industry can look back on a fairly weak year. According to Gartner, 241.8 million units were shipped in 2023. That is 14.8 percent less than in 2022. In addition, 2023 is the first year since 2006 in which the market volume is below 250 million units.
“The PC market has reached the bottom of its decline after a significant adjustment,” said Mikako Kitagawa, director analyst at Gartner. “Inventories normalized in the fourth quarter of 2023, a problem that had plagued the industry for two years. This subtle growth suggests that supply and demand are finally in balance. However, this situation is expected to change due to the increase in component prices expected in 2024 as well as geopolitical and economic uncertainties.” Nevertheless, the market will return to annual growth in 2024.
The PC market developed better in the EMEA region. Gartner determined growth of 8.7 percent in the fourth quarter – the first increase since the fourth quarter of 2021.
The market shares of the leading providers changed only slightly compared to the same period last year. Lenovo slightly expanded its position as the largest provider compared to HP – both increased their gap to Dell in terms of space. Apple, the fourth largest computer manufacturer, improved slightly to 10 percent. And while Asus had to cope with the biggest loss in the fourth quarter among the top 6 providers, Acer posted the biggest plus. However, the company failed to push Asus out of fifth place.